Shinji Mikami wants to make more non-horror games
The head of Tango Gameworks wants to be known for making "a wider variety of games," and hopes to be a mentor for younger developers.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is a really good action game, but it is not horror. "Weird things happen, and you may be unnerved by going into the home of a malicious spectre," we said in our 72% review, but "if you're looking for a good scare, you're not going to get it here." That came as a bit of a surprise, and maybe disappointment, for fans of Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks, the developer of The Evil Within games, which most definitely are horror.
It seems the trend away from horror is likely to continue in the future for Tango. Mikami said in an interview with Famitsu (translated by VGC) that he wants the studio to be known for more than just horror games, and in fact at least one other non-horror project is already in development.
"I hope to eventually change the image that Tango Gameworks currently has," Mikami said. "At the moment, we are still seen as a studio that specializes only in survival horror.
"Of course, it’s nice to have fans think of us as a studio with a reputation for developing survival horror games. But we also want to be viewed as a studio that can create a wider variety of games. We will be releasing more and more new games in the future, starting with Ghostwire: Tokyo, so please give us your support."
Along the same lines, Mikami revealed that the current game being headed up by John Johanas, the director of The Evil Within 2, "is the complete opposite of horror." He also suggested that he'd like Tango Gameworks to work on smaller-scale projects alongside big-budget games, in part because he wants the studio "to have the aspect of a game school where staff can learn how to make games," and he believes that's easier done on smaller teams.
"It is quite difficult to train newcomers in a large team," he said. "I think the most effective way is to run several game development teams of several dozen people."
Interestingly, Mikami said that it's not the success of The Evil Within games that opens the door to that possibility, but the rise of services like PC Game Pass. "In recent years, commercial considerations have meant that we have had to develop in large teams," he said. "However, thanks to the emergence of game subscription services over the past few years, we feel that it is now possible to make games on a smaller scale."
Ghostwire: Tokyo comes out tomorrow, March 25. If you haven't seen them yet, here are the full system requirements.